Angel's Requiem
by TheLostMaximoff
Summary: NXM fic. They've already lost enough friends but now one of them is back from the dead. Can the New X-Men save Josh Guthrie before he's consumed by the darkness or will they all go down in flames?
1. Get Born Again

Angel's Requiem

By TheLostMaximoff

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. I'm hoping this whole thing goes alright with everyone so do R/R and tell me if it's going well.

(Author's Note): This story does indeed follow the continuity of New X-Men and happens in that tiny space between "Whatever Happened to Wither" and "Mercury Rising/Falling".

X

The wind rustled through the trees that surrounded Jacobsen Pond. It was still summer so the wind was just cool enough to slightly chill the air over the water. He didn't mind the chill. He didn't really mind anything anymore except for the pain in his chest. It was an ache that never went away no matter how much time passed.

"I promised you we'd always be together," he whispered as he grazed the surface of the pond with his fingers. He could feel it in the water, feel the anguish and desire. It burned white hot on his fingertips and it made the ache in his chest throb even harder.

"I sung words to you that I didn't know the meaning behind," he confessed to the pond, "I made promises without knowing their costs. Forgive me." With that, he turned and headed into the darkness of the woods. The locals of Cumberland, Kentucky didn't go up to Jacobsen Pond very much anymore. Rumors were that the pond was haunted. If someone had been up there now, they would've heard a melancholy tune on the wind. The voice of the singer was angelic but the tune carried such heartache that people would've sworn it was a ghost singing as it passed through the woods. They would've been partly correct.

XXXXX

"Sorry, I didn't think anyone would be up." Cessily Kincaid stared at the blond girl who was currently endeavoring to devour an entire carton's worth of ice cream. Cessily had entered the kitchen of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in the hopes that there would be something she could use to distract herself. Technically, Cessily didn't need to eat now that her organs were nontoxic liquid mercury but old habits, as they say, died hard.

"No problem," assured Paige Guthrie as she finished the mouthful of ice cream and looked sheepishly at the carton, "It's probably bad manners to raid the host's fridge anyways."

"Hey, I would've if you didn't," assured Cessily as she sat down at one of the stools across the bar from Paige, "You care if I bum some off of you?" As she spoke, Mercury shifted her hand into a very large spoon. She grimaced slightly but didn't let it show too much. This particular hand of hers had once possessed more substance to it but had been inadvertently hacked off during a brawl with Nimrod. Shifting it still hurt to a certain degree but Cessily tried to ignore it.

"Help yourself," replied Paige, "It's Cessily right?"

"Yeah," replied Cessily as she popped a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, "You're Jay's sister, aren't you? Paige?" Cessily remembered seeing Paige at the funeral and then the vigil that had occurred later in the evening. The blond had been doing her best not to cry. Cessily remembered admiring that determination and sympathizing with Paige. God knows that she also had enough to cry about. There were the friends she had just recently lost and that phone call from Kevin hadn't exactly helped matters. Everything seemed so completely out of control. Cessily idly wondered if it was physically possible for her to cry anymore.

"Yeah," replied Paige quietly, "I never could get used to you all callin' him that but yeah that's me. He mentioned you a few times, Cessily. You seem like a nice girl." Paige didn't exactly know what to think. It was still weird for her to walk around the mansion and not be part of the junior class anymore. Even after her time as an X-Man, she still couldn't get used to it. She wondered if this was how Sam used to feel. Truthfully, Paige felt out-of-place about everything lately. Since M-Day, her former classmates hadn't faired so well. She had visited Jono in the hospital once and found the experience too painful to attempt again. She hadn't tried to contact Jubilee yet. This thing with Josh had consumed her of late because Momma Guthrie always taught her kids that family came first. Now a member of her family was dead and Paige didn't know what exactly she should do next.

"I'm sorry about your brother," whispered Cessily, the statement almost not coming out at all, "I just . . . we should've done something sooner. Jay was a good kid and, I dunno, it just feels like we all let him down." Cessily couldn't help but feel like a failure as of late. Even surviving an encounter with Nimrod, a feat in itself, couldn't exactly make her feel upbeat about things. When things got bad enough that Cessily Kincaid had a hard time being optimistic then things were pretty bad.

"We all could've done more," assured Paige, "_I_ could've done more."

"Is that why you're down here?" asked Cessily. Paige nodded and took another bite of ice cream.

"I don't want this to sound fake," explained Cessily, "It's just that . . . I know how it feels to think about someone you care about and wish you could've done more for him." She thought of Kevin, out there in the big, scary world with no one and nothing to comfort him except memories of a dead girl he was still in love with. They should've tracked him down and dragged him back to the Institute. She, Santo, Sooraya, and Julian were the only family he had left and they were having a hard enough time hanging together as it was without having to abandon one of their one.

"Thanks," said Paige with a nod, "You sound like ya got problems of your own."

"A classmate ran away," explained Cessily solemnly, "He was my teammate. We were family and . . . maybe more."

"I think I know the type," assured Paige as she thought of Jonothan Starsmore, the brooding Brit with half a face. She supposed there was one in every crowd. She was about to reflect on it further when something strange happened. She strained her ears to make sure that what she was hearing was really what she thought it was.

"Do you hear that?" asked Paige as she listened intently, "It sounds like . . . music." Cessily stopped eating and listened. She could hear it too.

"Maybe someone else is up," suggested Cessily.

"No," replied Paige with a shake of her head, "That song. My brother wrote that song."

XXXXX

"You should not be here." Laura Kinney heard the phrase "should not" at least five times a day, almost always in regard to her. There were a lot of things she shouldn't have done. Some of those things, however, had been necessary. This was one of them. She had heard Sooraya get out of bed and dress. It was impossible to sneak away from someone with superhuman senses. Suspicious that something was amiss, X-23 had done the only thing a paranoid killing machine would do. She simply tracked down Sooraya's scent and tailed her to the cemetery where they were now.

"It's dangerous out here," replied Laura.

"I have faced enough danger," assured Dust as she turned from Josh Guthrie's grave to look at her roommate, "It no longer frightens me." X-23 only nodded, not seeing any need to speak. Laura never said more than was absolutely necessary for her to say. She sometimes went entire days without uttering so much as a sentence. She hadn't been trained to be in social situations. Her ears perked up as she listened to the prayers Dust whispered. Sooraya had been talking with Laura about Allah, usually only when Laura asked her questions. X-23 didn't really believe in God and she doubted she ever could. However, she hoped that if there really was a God, He could take care of her mother.

"You believe he is with Allah?" asked X-23 quietly.

"I believe he is in Paradise," replied Dust in an equally somber tone, "I am . . . still responsible though. He died because of me." Sooraya knew all of the students were taking the deaths hard. Her faith gave her a small amount of comfort yet still the death of Josh Guthrie plagued her the most. There were so many questions she hadn't received answers for concerning his involvement in Stryker's mad plans.

"I heard him sing once," said Dust absently, "It was beautiful." X-23 didn't register Sooraya's words. There was something in the air, a scent she knew as familiar but still she couldn't place it.

"Get back in the house," warned Laura as she continued to try and discern what the scent was. Dust turned and gave her a quizzical look.

"What do you smell?" asked Sooraya.

"A dead man walking," replied X-23 cryptically.

XXXXX

X-Men died all the time. Sam had made sure to explain this to her when she first enrolled with Xavier. He had told Paige about Doug Ramsey, about Illyana Rasputin, even about his own experience with death. Being an X-Man or even one in training wasn't a long-term career. However, Paige had been around long enough to know that scores of X-Men usually came back to life. None of the ones _she_ was close to, of course, but still she knew it was possible.

"That seriously can't be . . ." began Cessily as she stared at the body on the doorstep.

"Get Mr. Summers or Miss Frost," ordered Paige, the shift into leader-mode almost automatic. Most of the X-Men were off campus. She had heard Professor X had taken a good chunk of them into space and that Rogue's team had gone off the reservation so to speak. That just left Cyclops and his team to run the mansion and look after the students.

"Hey, big sis," whispered Josh Guthrie weakly as he looked up at his sister. Paige and Cessily had followed the music to the Institute's front door. Upon opening it, they had discovered the body of one Josh Guthrie, barely breathing but still alive.

"Just tell me it's you, Josh," whispered Paige as she knelt down and cradled his body, "Please tell me it's really you."

"I swiped a Garth Brooks CD from you when I was little and didn't give it back until I could play every song," replied Josh.

"You ass," said Paige with a tearful smile as she tried to pick him up, "That was my favorite CD. C'mon, we gotta get you to Dr. McCoy."

"I think . . . I think I'm gonna die again," whispered Josh. He was barely aware of what was going on around him. Visions flashed behind his eyes as if his brain was still trying to process the fact that he had died and then come back to life. He couldn't remember what had happened in between but from the images he could make out perhaps it was better that way. The last thing he could really remember before winding up here was being in the church with Stryker and Nimrod. There were fragments though, flashes of fire and darkness, and he felt like he was being pulled towards the darkness again.

"Hang with me," said Paige as she saw Cyclops and Beast quickly come to her aid and grab Josh, "I'm not letting you die again!"

"Gimme a pulse, Hank," ordered Cyclops as Beast took Josh from Paige and they both started running for the medical wing.

"I can't seem to discern one," said Beast as the two X-Men scrambled towards the elevator that would take them down into the first sub-basement with Paige hot on their heels. Both Hank and Scott were old veterans of this by now. However, the new twist was that they needed to act quickly before the latest X-Man resurrected from the dead somehow died on them again.

"Where did you find him?" asked Cyclops as he turned to Paige.

"On your doorstep," replied Paige.

"Keep the kids calmed down," ordered Cyclops, "None of them need to see this after what's already happened." Paige nodded as she watched the elevator doors quickly close. She turned to notice that Mercury had kept pace with them throughout the whole ordeal.

"What should we do?" asked Cessily.

"No way I'm going back to bed," assured Paige, "Where's the healer?"

"Foley?" asked Cessily, "He's probably in his room. Mr. Summers said it was okay for him to get out of the med wing." Mercury didn't need to be told what to do at this point. She simply nodded and ran back towards the boys' dorms.

"What's going on?" asked Dust as she and X-23 came inside.

"Jay's back," replied Mercury hastily as she entered the dorm wing, "I need to get Foley."

"Back?" questioned Dust as she followed her teammate.

"I dunno," explained Mercury as she moved down the hall and banged on a door, "Josh, get up!" Cessily banged again on the door. There wasn't time for this. Mercury quickly poured herself through the cracks in the door and entered the room. These days, Elixir was mostly in a single room since David was usually with Surge. This made it extremely easy for Cessily to know which person to shake.

"Josh, they need you," said Mercury as she started shaking Elixir.

"Geez, I'm up," mumbled Joshua Foley groggily, "Between you almost tearing my door down and Miss Frost screaming at me in my head I'm never gonna sleep again."

"Mr. Summers needs you in the med wing," panted Mercury, "It's Jay. He's back."

"I know," replied Elixir as he rubbed his head, the black ooze in his golden skin moving around in an agitated manner, "I'm on it." He quickly ran out of the room.

"I don't understand," said Dust simply as she looked at Mercury.

"Me neither," replied Mercury.

XXXXX

"What's wrong with my brother?" Paige Guthrie stood with her arms crossed in front of her and gave Scott Summers and Hank McCoy a look that said quite plainly that someone's face was going to get rearranged unless she got an answer.

"A cursory observation tells me that he is in perfect health," replied Beast, "This is, of course, discounting his distinct lack of a heartbeat and a pulse. However, one has to take into account the fact that your brother was pronounced dead due to blood loss sustained via a horrible gunshot wound. The quandary this all creates is quite . . . perplexing to say the least though I can assure you I am endeavoring to discover exactly how this miracle of miracles has occurred."

"Ah love ya ta death, Hank," drawled Paige with a shake of her head, her accent becoming more noticeable, "but you've got a crappy way o' saying 'I don't know'."

"I think what Hank is trying to say," said Cyclops, "is that he's doing everything he can to help your brother. He seems to have stabilized for now."

"Quite right," agreed Beast, "As I said, your brother seems to be in perfect health aside from his rather distinct lack of any vital signs."

"So he's dead?" asked Paige.

"Clinically speaking, yes," replied Beast, "However, we have all seen enough of such cases to know that 'clinically dead' is a rather archaic term when it comes to X-Men."

"I want you to inform me if anything happens," said Paige, "I don't care where I am or what time of the day it is. I don't care what you interrupt even if it's me and Warren in the middle of something. The absolute second something happens to my brother, you let me know about it.

"You have my word," assured Cyclops, "We'll also notify Sam as soon as we can."

"I can field this," stated Paige, "Josh and Sam . . . they weren't exactly the best of friends. I mean Sam's a great brother and all of us love him but . . . this time I think it's my turn to solve all the family's problems."

"We'll at least contact him and tell him you're handling it," said Cyclops, "For now though, I think we should all try to get back to sleep."

"As much as I'd enjoy that," spoke up Beast, "I believe that this task will call for the proverbial burning of the midnight oil."

"Your supply of Twinkies is low?" asked Cyclops.

"Unfortunately, yes," replied Beast, "You wouldn't care to run for a refill while I remain ensconced in my lab, would you?"

"I'll have Logan get on it," replied Cyclops with a rare grin.

XXXXX

"I do not believe it would be wise to wake him," stated Dust as she and Cessily stared at Julian Keller still asleep in his bed, "He is usually rather . . . grumpy when he's woken up."

"I know," replied Mercury, "but it's either him or Santo."

"I do not believe _that_ would be wise either," said Dust, "He is also rather grumpy."

"Nori said she wanted the whole team at the meeting," explained Mercury, "Plus, I'm kinda worried about Julian. He's been asleep for almost two straight days now."

"I still do not believe this to be a good idea," repeated Dust as Mercury moved to try and rouse Julian. As if to further support Sooraya's point, one of Julian's X-Box controllers suddenly developed a greenish glow before spontaneously combusting.

"Damn," muttered Hellion sleepily as he rolled over to see the two girls and the broken controller, "Great, now I have to get a new one."

"Could you tone it down a little next time?" asked Mercury, "Look, team meeting is happening in Sooraya and Laura's room. Nori wants everyone there."

"Wait, the clone's okay?" asked Julian.

"She is fine," assured Dust, "Though I believe she is recovering from the recent effects of . . . PMS."

"Gross," muttered Julian as he sat up, "That's really what I need to hear after I wake up from a coma."

"You weren't in a coma, you big baby," chided Mercury, "Get it in gear. I gotta wake up Santo."

"I'll do it," mumbled Hellion groggily as he got up and walked across the hall, "You two go on." He waited till the two girls had left before attempting to telekinetically open Rockslide's door. The results were less than desired as the doorknob shot across the hallway.

"Works for me," said Julian with an arch of his eyebrow before banging on Santo's door, "Santo, get up!"

"Yeah, yeah," muttered Rockslide as he opened the door, "Hey, 'bout time you woke up. I was afraid we were gonna have ta fill your spot."

"Nice look," said Hellion as he noticed Santo's new form, "Meeting in Dust's room now."

"Right," said Rockslide as he came through the doorway but felt something stick, "Hell, that's the second one already." Both boys noticed that the rocky shards sticking out of Santo's new body had gone straight through the boy's bed. Effectively, Rockslide was wearing his bed like a backpack.

"I think I should've stayed in a coma," mumbled Julian.

XXXXX

Noriko Ashida winced as she heard a crash all the way from the boys' dormitory. She guessed that Hellion had finally gotten off his lazy ass and decided to be a part of the team again.

"Tell me again," said Surge as she sat on what was once her bed but now belonged to Laura. She looked at Mercury because Cessily seemed to know the most about what was going on.

"Jay's back," replied Mercury simply.

"How and why?" asked Nori. She had let David go back to bed, figuring that she could handle this latest crisis on her own. Emma had put her in charge of the team but frankly Nori felt way out of her league. David still being the expert tactician didn't help things either. That was part of the reason Nori had told him to go back to bed. She couldn't just let David hold her hand all the time. It was really embarrassing.


	2. Don't Look Back

Angel's Requiem (Part Two)

By TheLostMaximoff

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. R/R.

Matthew Risman had never believed in God. As a child, he had been what most would call a "hard-luck case". His father had walked out on the family when Matthew was a little boy. His mother had worked two jobs to support him and his siblings. Matthew had a history of violence that his mother thought the military would fix. It, regrettably, didn't. Instead it gave Matthew the skills he needed to make a better life for himself and his girlfriend who was going to have his child. That, of course, meant that she was destined to become his wife. There was no white picket fence for Matthew though. Bills still needed to be paid and, in the absence of honest work, Matthew delved into the fast-paced, high-risk world of contract-killing. Suffice it to say, Matthew's life wasn't one where he could afford to believe in God. That was, of course, until he met Reverend William Stryker.

"How did the purification go?" Matthew looked at the young boy in front of him. The Purifiers that had remained after Stryker's botched attack on the X-Mansion had relocated. Matthew had put Stryker's affairs in order and had secured the reverend's estate, including his hefty bank account. Matthew, of course, had little concern for money. He kept his eyes turned towards greater pleasures than Earthly wealth.

"It went well, Father," assured Samuel. Matthew had set about recruiting new members to his flock. Samuel had shown great promise so far. Matthew only hoped that he could have as great an influence on Samuel's life as Stryker had on his own.

"You made absolutely sure that the spawns of the Devil were dead?" asked Matthew.

"Of course, Father," assured Samuel, "Saul, Thomas, and I are always eager to do the work of the Lord. We have always done just as you and He have asked of us."

"Praise God for your success then," said Matthew as he attempted a smile. Considering that half of his face was scarred due to energy burns sustained in the attack on the X-Mansion, Matthew's smile was more hideous than heartening.

"Praise God indeed," echoed Samuel, "What would you have us do next, Father?"

"Nothing for now, Samuel," assured Matthew with a dismissing wave of his hand, "You may return to your usual patrol. When the Lord needs your services, He shall call upon you." Samuel graciously nodded and left the room. Matthew turned from his desk and moved to his bookshelf. He removed the Bible from it, activating the switch for the hidden door. The bookcase slid away to reveal a staircase that allowed for easy access to the basement of the condemned church the Purifiers were using as a hideout. While Matthew may have acquired Stryker's riches, he was not so fortunate enough to also acquire Stryker's celebrity status. Matthew had decided that it was better to keep a low profile and meet in secret, much the way early Christians did in the days of the Roman Empire. The world was simply not ready for The Truth but they would be again.

"Brother James," said Matthew as he greeted the man in the lab coat, "How are you and Sister Ruth progressing?" James sighed and shook his head sadly.

"I'm afraid God isn't being too merciful," said James, "We have failed yet again. It seems that for all our technological and scientific prowess, God's miracles are still out of our grasp."

"Do not lose faith, James," assured Matthew as he studied the liquid-filled tank that kept the body of William Stryker in suspended animation, "I assure you that with more time and prayer we will be able to resurrect our Savior. You cannot lose hope."

"I'm beginning to suspect it will indeed take a miracle," said James, "We can set up the chamber for another run but Sister Ruth and I are both running out of ideas. We have prayed for divine inspiration and guidance but it seems that we are no closer to accomplishing the task."

"Stay the course," ordered Matthew, "God will grant us the wisdom we desire."

"Father Matthew," said Ruth suddenly as she came up to him, "I have some glorious news."

"Tell me, child," prodded Matthew.

"Our scouts have been keeping watch on Xavier's school," explained Ruth, "While their security measures have increased, we have managed to learn something very interesting."

"Go on," ordered Matthew.

"The Guthrie boy is back," informed Ruth. Matthew stared at her quizzically. He could only recall one Guthrie boy and it was the one who was arrogant enough to flaunt his so-called angelic gift. Matthew knew what devils those that dwelt in that school really were. They were all unholy abominations that needed to be wiped from the face of the Earth.

"The one that Reverend Stryker shot," explained Ruth, "Our scouts say he somehow turned up on their doorstep."

"Blasphemy," muttered Matthew venomously, "No doubt he was resurrected through Satan's trickery."

"Don't you see what this means?" asked Ruth, "If Brother James and I can be allowed to study him then we might make a huge breakthrough in our own research. That boy might be the key we need to resurrect Reverend Stryker." Matthew's face seemed to lighten up and once again he attempted a smile.

"The Lord does indeed work in mysterious ways," proclaimed Matthew, "My Purifiers and I will bring him to you and then you'll discover what dark powers Satan has used so that we may turn it against him."

XXXXX

"I'm sorry." Julian Keller gave his team leader a sour glare that prompted her to either elaborate or kindly piss off. Never one to back away from a challenge, Noriko Ashida took the glare to mean she should kindly elaborate on what exactly her apology was for. Julian could think of a number of things that Nori should be "sorry" for so in his mind the simple declaration did little to help him understand.

"What I said about Brian last night," explained Nori, "It wasn't called for and I'm sorry I said it."

"Forget it," replied Julian as his eyes returned to their sweep of the Danger Room, nervously flitting about as if he was expecting danger around every corner. This action wasn't derived from mere paranoia. The illustrious Wolverine was scheduled to be their drill-instructor today and Logan always did have "unusual" teaching methods.

"How do you think Jay's doing?" asked Nori idly in an attempt at small-talk before they proceeded to get the crap knocked out of them by Wolverine.

"Miss Frost said they managed to stabilize him," replied Julian, "That's all she would tell me." Nori nodded as Logan made his way into the room. The team's collective attention was focused on him as he gave them a surly look.

"Alright," stated Logan as he glared at the group, "I'm tired, I'm grumpy, and I ain't in the mood for crap. Laura, take a seat on the bench."

"Why?" asked X-23.

"Because I'm not in the mood to fight you today," replied Wolverine, "I can't teach you anything but maybe watching these other kids can. Besides, I wanna see how good they are when they're not relyin' on you ta just kill everything." X-23 shrugged her shoulders and moved off to the side, taking a seat on the floor and leaning back against the wall.

"Great, there goes the master plan," muttered Rockslide.

"Now," said Logan as he looked at the others, "gimme whatever ya got."

XXXXX

"Hank says they're doing everything they can." Paige Guthrie removed her forehead from the glass window and turned to look at Emma Frost. The Kentuckian barely registered the words from her former teacher and simply regarded her with a sad half-smile.

"Your kids are pretty restless," replied Paige, "They wanna help."

"The best thing they can do now is continue with their combat training," assured Emma, "It won't do them any good to stand around and worry."

"That some of your famous backhanded advice?" asked Paige with a grin as she realized Emma was no longer speaking exclusively about her students.

"Still the fast learner," said Emma with an amused smirk, "Yes, it is. I doubt we give family discounts on medical care, Paige. Get out of here for a little while before you end up in there with him."

"Still got that old charm," said Paige with a shake of her head.

"It's trademarked, dear," assured Emma, "We can take care of your brother. You need to take care of yourself."

"You know me well enough, Miss Frost," reminded Paige, "I've always been an over-achiever."

"That you have," agreed Emma, "If you'll excuse me, I need to run a check on his head. His body may be healthy but I think a look into his mind will give us some more information. Why don't you go and supervise my children? I believe Logan is their instructor today and you know how he is with children."

"The same way he is with everyone else," replied Paige with a nod, "I'll make sure he doesn't rough 'em up too bad as long as you make sure my brother's okay."

"You have yourself a deal," agreed Emma with a nod.

XXXXX

There was always darkness. Sometimes he felt like his whole life had been about fighting against the darkness. He was, after all, Icarus. Wasn't his whole existence based around going towards the light? The light could burn though, burn so hot and bright that it stripped you of everything and showed you the true ugliness inside you. Sometimes going into the light was just as bad as falling into the darkness. So where was he supposed to fly to if he couldn't take comfort in the light or the darkness? Joshua Guthrie stared into the inky depths that surrounded him. He couldn't be sure but he almost felt as if the darkness was somehow alive. It was like he was in the belly of the beast, in some giant monster that had swallowed him whole. The strange part was that he got the feeling he wasn't exactly alone in here.

"Don't look back," whispered a voice in his ear. He knew the voice too well. It was the voice of his fair lady, his muse, his heart.

"Julia?" asked Josh. The darkness morphed around him and formed into a tunnel. There was a light at the end. Josh could see it burning brightly in the midst of the darkness. It was . . . home.

"Home," whispered Josh, "Julia, it's home."

"Don't look back," repeated Julia's voice. Josh moved towards the light, almost sprinting towards his home. He could smell the fresh grass. He could hear the laughter of his siblings. He was going home and when he was home he would be fine again.

"Isn't it beautiful, Julia?" asked Josh as he stood at the threshold and stared in awe of how wonderful everything looked on the other side. There was no answer in the darkness behind him. Josh felt the nervousness inside him grow.

"Julia?" he asked, his eyes still fixed on the image of home. Again, there was no answer. He hesitated, fighting the impulse to turn around and make sure she was still behind him. It wasn't worth it unless she was with him. All the beautiful things in the world didn't compare to her.

"Julia?" asked Josh a third time. A white-gloved hand suddenly leapt from the portal and grabbed his hand, trying to jerk him back home. Josh panicked and in that panic he did what his lover had told him never to do. He looked back to see if Julia was behind him so that he could grab her hand and pull her into the light with him. There was nothing behind him but darkness and now Josh felt the darkness swarm all over him, breaking his grip with the hand that would pull him back into the light. The portal that would take Joshua Guthrie home vanished. He was now confronted by a monster with blazing, fiery eyes and fangs that could cut into a man's very soul. The dark beast sprang at him and he screamed as it enveloped him in its suffocating clutches.

XXXXX

Paige stood on the sidelines and watched Logan have a field day with the New X-Men. She had spent enough time with Jubilee to know that Logan favored this style of "teaching". A class with Logan wasn't one where you sat at a desk and stared at a textbook.

"How come you're sitting out?" X-23 didn't register Paige's question immediately. She watched her teammates continue throwing themselves at Wolverine while the Canuck critiqued them as he dispatched them with his usual gruffness. She understood what Logan had meant earlier. She had the skills to take him one-on-one but she lacked the ability to work with the rest of the team. Watching the fight for X-23 was like watching an unfinished puzzle. She could see exactly where she could fit if she were part of it.

"He thinks it would be unfair," replied X-23 as she looked at Paige. Paige nodded and watched the New X-Men pick themselves up and go for another run. Wolverine let out a growl of pain as the electricity from Surge coursed through his metal bones. He powered through the attack and slammed his knee into Nori's gut, grabbing her and spinning on his heel to throw her into Hellion.

"Do you think you'd win?" asked Paige.

"He would not really fight," explained X-23 as Mercury wrapped her liquid metal body around Wolverine, locking him up long enough for Rockslide to deliver a couple bone-crushing punches at Logan's chest, "We are . . . family."

"I know about things like that," assured Paige, "God knows I grew up wanting to kill a couple o' my siblings but I'd never really hurt 'em." Paige saw X-23 suddenly wince slightly.

"Your brother is in trouble," said Laura, her enhanced hearing picking up the sound of the alarm seconds before it reached the Danger Room.

"Class is dismissed, kids," said Logan as he looked at the New X-Men, "Ya done good today. I think we made some real progress." Logan quickly excused himself to check on the alarm. Paige ran after him, both of them sprinting towards the elevator that would get them up to the medical wing. She wasn't going to lose Josh again.

"I'd rather have another go with Nimrod," muttered Surge as she picked herself up off the floor.

"I think my head's ringin' too," said Rockslide as he picked up the arm that had been broken off and reattached it, "What's the noise about?"

"Jay," replied Dust as she quickly took off after Paige and Logan with the rest of the team behind her. In the past 24 hours, Sooraya had prayed more times than in possibly her entire life. She didn't know exactly what forces were at work here but she prayed now that Allah would not undo the miracle He had created. She did not believe for a single second that Allah would bring Josh back to them only so they could watch him die for a second time.

"What's wrong?" asked Paige as she almost slammed through the door and into the medical wing. Logan quickly grabbed her and held her back. He could smell something foul in that room, something unearthly and unholy. Whatever it was, Emma was already in the room with it and he wasn't going to let anybody else just waltz in there and become prey for it.

"Nobody go in," warned Logan, "The kid doesn't smell right." There was suddenly a scream, a painful howl that sounded like it came from some wounded animal. Paige stared through the glass window and could see what was happening but only barely. It was dark in the room. The darkness seemed to be spilling out of her brother like water, sloshing and splashing out onto the floor of the room.

"I hafta get in there!" snapped Paige.

"No," growled Logan, "_I_ do!" He quickly moved Paige aside and slammed through the door. He sniffed the air and tried to discern what this darkness was. Whatever it was, it seemed to be alive. It registered Wolverine's presence and suddenly stopped its movement towards the unconscious Emma Frost, surging now towards Logan like a pack of hungry wolves.

"Turn it off," ordered Logan as the air rang with the sound of his adamantium claws popping from their housings. The mass of living darkness paid no heed to the demands of the mighty Wolverine. It continued its charge and slammed Logan up against the window, the inky tentacles quickly swarming all over him and threatening to choke him out. The darkness was ice-cold to the touch and would've probably frozen the bones of ordinary men. Wolverine, however, was not an ordinary man and he proceeded to hack and slash at the ebony blob that threatened to engulf him.

"Damn idiot," muttered Paige as she quickly began peeling off her skin to reveal a layer of steel underneath. She managed to tackle her brother from his standing position back into his bed. Sensing this new, more dangerous threat to its apparent master, the darkness snapped backwards to reel itself in like a fishing line until it could get to Paige.

"Josh, it's me," said Paige as she tried to get her brother to speak to her. His eyes were devoid of pupils and black as a cloudy midnight sky. Paige stared into them and felt the bone-chilling, mind-numbing cold envelop her.

"Josh, listen to me," ordered Paige. She could barely talk as she felt her teeth chatter. It was like every ounce of heat in her body was being sucked straight out of her and every bit of light in her soul was being snuffed out by the all-encompassing blackness she now found herself in the epicenter of.

"She warned me," moaned Josh, "She tried to save me."

"Dammit, Joshua," snapped Paige as she forced herself to look into the abyss his eyes had become, "Look at me. I'm not losing you again. Do you hear me? Come home!"

"Home," said Josh as he latched onto his sister's voice. Paige saw the darkness in his eyes begin to recede. She felt the blessed warmth in her body return as the darkness continued to flow back into her brother until it vanished completely.

"Home," repeated Josh as he registered his sister's presence for the first time since she found him on the doorstep, "Am I . . . home?" Paige smiled as she cradled her brother while Josh let out a gut-wrenching sob and hugged her tightly.

"Yeah," assured Paige quietly, "You're home, little brother. You're home."

XXXXX

"Do you think he's alright?" Noriko Ashida looked through the window at the scene before her and then returned her attention to the rest of her team.

"Did a pretty good job of smackin' Logan around," cut in Rockslide, "Didn't know the kid had it in him."

"He didn't," said Surge, "No, Cess, I don't know if he's alright."

"Looks to me like he finally grew a pair," said Hellion, "I say we get him on the team."

"Might as well, "agreed Rockslide, "Auditions have sucked anyways. All I got is Victor and Hamil. Something tells me the amazing duo of Lizard Boy and Flame Head can't exactly bring the pain like Jay can now."

"I really think I liked it better when you were in a coma," said Surge as she looked at Hellion, "Jay _just_ woke up and the first thing you wanna do is draft him?"

"You said it yourself last night," countered Hellion, "He used to be a Hellion and he used to be a New Mutant. I don't know about your sorry-ass squad but _we_ take care of our own." Surge's eyes flashed with electricity. She couldn't believe Julian's nerve. Even when he was basically agreeing with her, he was still an absolute prick about it.

"We should let him get some rest," advised Dust, "Then we must deal with . . . whatever that was."

"Yeah," agreed Rockslide, "We need to find a priest 'cause that was totally something out of The Exorcist. Hey, Cess, you're Catholic right? How do we score a priest?"

"Santo," replied Mercury with a roll of her eyes, "just because my family's Irish doesn't mean I'm _automatically_ a Catholic."

"Sooraya's right," cut in Surge, "I'm all for having Jay on the team but he's dangerous right now. We need to find out whatever that was and whether or not he can control it before we let him on the team." Nori looked at her teammates for suggestions on their next course of action. The silence was deafening.

"Seems like we should do what we always do when we need some info," spoke up Hellion, "We go ask the man with the big brain."

XXXXX

The others had gone in search of answers. Sooraya was confident they would find the truth. She knew that both Surge and Hellion could be extremely stubborn when they tried. She, however, had a different course of action to take. Now that things had finally calmed down and Josh was conscious, Dust needed to speak with him. While she blamed herself for his death, Dust had not forgotten the address Josh had given her that would've led her into Stryker's trap. While she could forgive him for this mistake, she still wanted answers. Sooraya wasn't exactly the aggressive type but when push came to shove she could be forceful enough. Now was going to have to be one of those times.

"I would like to speak with your brother," said Dust as she stood outside Josh's room. Paige was in the doorway and looked to be standing some sort of guard although at this point it was slightly unclear as to who she was protecting. She still hadn't husked back into her normal form although she had managed to keep her clothes on. Dust wondered what it would be like to have Paige's ability. By the standards of most, Sooraya wasn't exactly very "comfortable in her own skin" as she had heard Americans put it. She wondered what it would be like to be able to change your skin if you weren't comfortable in it.

"He's had a hard day," explained Paige, "I mean last night he just came back to life and all. You can understand that I'm going to say no."

"Yes," agreed Dust, "but I need to speak with him."

"Sooraya, he needs to rest," said Paige as she started peeling off her steel skin and began returning to normal.

"It's alright, sis," said Josh as he sat up in his bed, "I got it covered." Paige gave her younger brother a worried look before stepping aside to let Dust in. Josh watched as Sooraya came into the room. He was surprised to see her and happy to discover that she was alive. However, he knew this was going to happen sooner or later. He didn't think any of his friends knew the full truth but he had a feeling that Sooraya would be the one to confront him about it if any of them did. He had been responsible for the bus attack. He was the one who had allowed himself to believe Stryker's lies. He was the one who had given the preacher the time and the place. It was only by chance and good fortune that Sooraya was even standing before Josh at all considering he had sold her out to Stryker.

"How are you alive?" asked Josh as Dust took a seat beside his bed, "I saw you die."

"Laura took my place," explained Dust, "She believed Allah did not want me to die." Josh simply nodded. He wasn't exactly sure about God anymore. His experiences with Stryker and the darkness in his own soul left him too jaded to really place his faith in God again.

"Why?" asked Dust simply. He supposed it was a fair enough question. It wasn't as if more needed to be said.

"Do you believe God plans everything out ahead of time?" asked Josh quietly, "I mean do we still make choices about things?"

"I believe we have the ability to discern what is right and what is wrong," replied Dust, "However, I do not believe anything good or evil happens without the permission of Allah."

"I'm not even sure He's up there anymore," admitted Josh, "What kind of god lets a person like me come back to life when there are so many others who deserve it more?"

"Why did you give me that address?" asked Dust, "It was the address to Stryker's church."

"I never meant for anyone to die," replied Josh, "least of all you." He felt a cold chill crawl over him and his hands began to glow as the living darkness welled up in them. He couldn't tell her the whole truth, not yet. He couldn't let her know how much of a monster he had become.

"You couldn't have known," assured Dust, "Whatever mistakes you made, you couldn't have known it would lead to this." Dust reached out her hand to touch Josh's. The darkness enveloped her hand and she felt its icy touch before Josh reeled it back in. He was starting to understand more about how his new power worked. The darkness was an extension of himself. All he had to do was think and it would happen.

"What is it?" asked Dust as she flexed her fingers.

"I . . . I don't know," admitted Josh, "It's part of me somehow but it's hard to control."

"The others are looking into it," assured Dust, "They would like to have you on our team. I would as well."

"None of you would want me if you knew the truth," stated Josh coldly.

"You died for whatever crimes you committed," said Dust, "Now, you are born again with a chance to have a new life. Is this not what your religion teaches?"

"I don't really have a religion anymore," assured Josh, "There's no reason for me being alive again."

"There is reason for everything," replied Dust as she took his hand and squeezed it gently, "You are welcome to join our team, Jay."

"That name doesn't belong to me anymore," said Josh, "I'm not Icarus either. I should get a new one."

"I should catch up with the others," said Dust, "You can tell me your decision next time." Josh suddenly leaned forward, taking Sooraya's hand in his and gently kissing her on the forehead.

"I look forward to next time then," assured Josh. Dust blushed under her veil and was glad that Josh couldn't see it. She simply nodded and got up from her chair, leaving the boy alone with his thoughts.


	3. Bury Me With It

Angel's Requiem (Part Three)

By TheLostMaximoff

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. I took a little vacation that I intended to use to write more but that didn't go as planned. R/R.

"You realize we could get in serious trouble for this." David Alleyne meant it as more of a statement than a question. Surge and the others had come to him with questions regarding the reappearance of Josh Guthrie. He had been formulating his own theories but so far none of them seemed very plausible. That was why he was at his computer trying to get into the school's database, particularly the classified files.

"I know," replied Surge, "C'mon though, aren't you always up for learning new things and expanding your mind?"

"Breaking into the school's classified files isn't what I meant," retorted David as he pushed his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose, "Most of these are locked for good reasons."

"We don't need to see all of them," reminded Surge.

"Seems like we're not going to get to see _any_ of them," cut in Hellion, "What's the big hold-up, super-nerd?"

"I think there's something," said David, "I checked into Dallas Gibson's file and ran a search for people with powers similar to his. I think I got a good hit."

"Some of these people are dead," said Surge as she looked over David's shoulder at the list, "They didn't bother to delete their files?"

"Miss Pryde told me they only do that once a year or so," replied David, "She figures that with the way people come back all the time there's no point in doing it regularly."

"She's probably too busy makin' out with Colossus to care," said Hellion with a smirk.

"Lucky guy," grumbled Rockslide, "Man, some people get all the breaks."

"Please," scoffed Hellion, "You can totally score better than Pryde."

"Focus," snapped Surge impatiently, "What'd you find?"

"Cloak," replied David, "The file on him is short but the section about his powers makes it sound like he can do what you saw Jay do. It mentions 'living darkness' and there's a blurb about something called 'the Darkforce Dimension'."

"So how did Jay get hooked up with it?" asked Surge.

"I don't know," admitted David, "The file on the Darkforce Dimension is pretty small and heavily locked."

"Maybe we could find Cloak then," offered Mercury, "Does the file say where he lives?"

"He moves around a lot," explained David, "There's an address for a church and that's it. Julian, float me a pen so I can write it down."

"The hell do I look like?" asked Hellion, "Get your own damn pen."

"Sure, if you're too inept to do it," said David with a smirk. He may have lost his power to superhumanly gain knowledge but that didn't mean he didn't know what kind of reaction his comment was going to have. Dealing with Julian wasn't so bad as long as you knew how to work him.

"Hey, at least I still have my power," countered Hellion as he sneered at David, "Seems to me like you're the inept one around here, Mr. Flatscan."

"Then show me how much better you are and float me a pen," retorted David with a grin. Hellion grumbled and looked over to David's nightstand. He knew his telekinesis was a little . . . off but there was no way he was going to admit it to anyone. He could deal with it on his own. The drawer on the nightstand started to glow green before Mercury managed to move over to it and pull it out the conventional way.

"I'll get it," said Mercury as she looked straight at Hellion, "No trouble."

"I was going to get it," said Hellion as Mercury rummaged around in the drawer and pulled out a pen. She tossed David the pen and then looked at Hellion again.

"Julian, I think we need to have a talk about something," said Mercury, "In private." Hellion arched his eyebrow as she took his arm and led him out into the hallway. He rolled his eyes as he suddenly knew what was coming. It was going to be one of those lectures about how he was a danger to the rest of the team without control of his powers. He thought Cessily knew him better than that. He could handle this. Hell, with all they had been through recently a little malfunction of his powers was the last thing he should worry about.

"What?" asked Hellion as soon as Mercury closed the door behind them.

"There's nobody else around to act all tough in front of," said Mercury as she looked at him, "It's just me, Julian, so you can tell me the truth. You're having problems with your powers, aren't you?"

"Please," scoffed Hellion, "I was in a coma for almost two days. I'm just a little rusty, that's all."

"Julian, don't give me this crap again," said Mercury, "We're family, aren't we?"

"Sure we are," assured Hellion.

"Then be honest with me," said Mercury in an exasperated tone, "We're not in the locker room so you don't have to give me this tough-guy crap. You have a problem, don't you?" Hellion looked at her for a minute and then sighed.

"Yeah," admitted Hellion quietly, "Look, my power's a little harder to control now, alright? It's nothing I can't handle, Cess."

"You sure?" asked Mercury in a concerned tone.

"I'm sure," assured Hellion with a smile as he patted her shoulder, "Nothing's gonna happen to me, Cess. I promise." He was about to go inside when he noticed that Elixir was coming up to both of them.

"Rough day at the office, Foley?" asked Hellion as he noticed Elixir's haggard look before opening the door.

"Nasty," assured Elixir as he made it into his room and crashed on his bed, "I'm running on a couple hours of sleep."

"Jay seems very well," reported Dust as she made her way into the room behind the others, "He is, however, very . . . unsure if he wants to remain here."

"We're on lockdown," reminded Surge, "Where can he go?"

"If he can do what Cloak can do then he can teleport," explained David, "Theoretically he could go anywhere."

"That is not what I meant," explained Dust, "He has changed and seems very disturbed by his current status. He does not believe he is deserving of a second life."

"Tell him to be thankful for what he has," said Hellion bitterly, "God knows there are enough people who could be in that bed instead of him."

"I think Miss Frost might wanna check him over again," said Elixir, "I dunno though since that idea worked so well before. Physically he's as healthy as any of us except for not having a pulse of a heartbeat. There's really not much else Dr. McCoy and I can do."

"Something tells me they're not going to let us go out and search for Cloak," said Mercury, "Looks like we have to just wait and see what the other adults to figure something out."

"Yeah, because they've been doing such a good job of that lately," replied Surge bitterly.

XXXXX

He was always prone to bouts of restlessness. He knew it probably had a lot to do with being from a small town in the middle of nowhere. Growing up there made you want to get away from it as fast as you could. Plus, Josh Guthrie had his own personal baggage that he wanted to run away from. This, however, was something else. It was almost like a hunger gnawing at him, eating him alive. He had to do something to take his mind off his current situation.

"Your sister is quite vigilant," noted Dust as she motioned to Paige. The poor girl was catching a nap in one of the other beds. Josh figured she hadn't gotten much sleep lately. He felt bad for worrying his sister and knew she was already on the long list of people he had disappointed in his life.

"She was just going to sleep in the chair," said Josh, "Mr. Summers was the one who made her at least use a bed."

"She is concerned for you," reminded Dust.

"She's paranoid," corrected Josh as he casually began removing the tubes that were coming out of his body from the few machines he was still hooked up to. Beast had discovered it was pretty useless to attach him to any machines that would monitor his non-existent vital signs. Still, the X-Men did keep a few machines for special cases like him.

"What exactly are you doing?" asked Dust skeptically as Josh moved to put his feet on the floor and tested them to make sure they were functional.

"I was thinking of taking a walk," replied Josh, "Would you care to accompany me?"

"I do not wish to create trouble," stated Dust as Josh stood up and moved around a little to get used to walking again.

"Then you should probably come with me," said Josh, "I mean it would be worse if you let me wander around by myself, wouldn't it?"

"I suppose that's true," admitted Dust as the two of them moved quietly to the door so they wouldn't disturb Paige. The two young mutants slipped out of the room and walked softly down the hallway.

"Where did you plan on going?" asked Dust.

"Hang on," replied Josh as he suddenly grabbed Sooraya's hand. Dust opened her mouth to speak but the breath was stolen from her lungs as she felt the icy touch of Josh's new powers suddenly envelop her. There was a flash of blackness and suddenly they were no longer standing inside the mansion.

"How?" asked Dust as soon as she could speak again.

"I don't know," replied Josh honestly as the blackness crawled all over his hands, writhing and squirming like it was begging for more, "I'm starting . . . to remember more. When Miss Frost tried to check my head, it opened some things up."

"What happened to you?" asked Dust.

"Stryker shot me," began Josh as he started absently walking towards whatever place he felt like he needed to be, "I was lying there on the floor dying. I could see Nimrod crawling down off that cross. We looked at one another and suddenly I felt angry."

"Angry at what?" questioned Dust as she followed him.

"At myself, at that thing, at everything," replied Josh as he kept walking, "I wrote that message in my blood because I knew what Nimrod could do if you didn't stop him. It wasn't enough to satisfy my anger and guilt."

"What happened after you died?" asked Dust as they finally reached their destination. She knew this path all too well. She had come here the night before to pay respects to this boy who was now standing beside her.

"I think I went to Hell," replied Josh as he stood before his own grave, "There was fire and screaming. Then there was darkness and cold. After that, the only thing I can remember is showing up here again." He looked out at the other graves. So many dead and all because of his own selfish grief and a faith he was too naïve about to understand how easily it could be manipulated. How many times would the people he cared about have to die before he became old enough and wise enough to learn the truth? There were ugly things in this world, ugly and dark things that could eat a man alive. Grief, rage, greed, jealousy, all of it made men blind to the atrocities they could commit. Even things that were supposedly pure like faith and love could quickly turn sour and become distorted perversions of themselves.

"You committed no crime," said Dust, "Why would Allah send you to perish if you had not committed a crime?"

"I killed these people!" snapped Josh, "It was me, Sooraya. I killed them all because I was the one who told Stryker about the bus. He wouldn't have even known about it if I hadn't told him."

"You were manipulated," countered Dust.

"I made the choice," reminded Josh, "If nothing happens without God's permission then why am I still here?" Dust could not answer that question. She could not deny that Josh had committed a grievous sin but she could not simply condemn him to Hell for a mistake. She had seen enough to know about redemption, to know that people could make atonement for the evils they had done. People could make wrong choices but it didn't mean that God wouldn't show them mercy.

"Because God's not the only great power in the universe," assured a voice. Josh turned to follow it. He knew that he and Sooraya were not alone here. Someone was stepping on these graves and he could hear the sorrow in his head.

"Get out of here," ordered Josh as he looked to Dust, "It's those people who work for Stryker." Dust turned and saw Matthew Risman and a squad of Purifiers emerge from the woods around them.

"I was once like you," admitted Matthew as he looked at Josh, "I killed and I believed I could not be saved. Reverend Stryker showed me that good can come from the evil we bring upon ourselves. Now, I believe it's time to see what good can come from you."

"Not here," ordered Josh as he looked at the Purifiers, "I don't give a damn what you want with me. We're not doing this here."

"I have no qualms about stepping on the graves of Satan's children," assured Matthew, "This entire estate should be a graveyard but your friends killed the Reverend."

"Your reverend was punished by Allah for his unholy actions," stated Dust, "You will only throw your own life away if you continue down that path."

"Sooraya, go!" ordered Josh, "Get the others. Get everyone." He heard an explosion back in the direction of the mansion. The Purifiers weren't going to give him the luxury of reinforcements. He turned back as the Purifiers raised their firearms. Josh wasn't going to give them a chance. He simply stopped trying to hold back the darkness inside him. Tendrils of blackness sprang from his hands, pouncing on the Purifiers like wild, hungry animals. Josh could feel it as the living darkness engulfed two of the Purifiers. Something was happening to them. It was like he was sucking the life straight out of their bodies. It felt good and that only served to make Josh more disgusted to himself.

"I will return for you," promised Dust as she transformed into her dust form and blew past the two Purifiers that were trying to block off the way she and Josh had come. She would've loved nothing more than to stay with him and rip the Purifiers apart but Sooraya knew they would need help. She also had resolved to not kill more of them. She would not let her anger turn her into a monster as their anger had done to them.

"We'll get her later," assured Matthew as he fired his weapon at Josh, "It's just you we want this time." Josh felt the sting as the dart hit him in the arm. He assumed it was a tranquilizer. Would it even work on him? How exactly did you knock out a walking dead man? Josh didn't have time to answer his own questions. He let the tendrils that were suffocating the Purifiers pick up their prey and hurl them into Matthew. He had to get away. He wasn't going to risk anyone else dying because of him.

"I seem to be very popular these days," said Josh, "If you want me, preacher, you've got to come find me." He let the darkness envelop him, caress him as tenderly as he would let his Julia were she alive to do so. He felt himself disappear from existence as he stepped out of the normal world and into the place where the darkness dwelled. Josh was learning faster now. Every new use of his powers brought back more fragments of memory. This dark and cold place was where his powers came from. He remembered being lost in this place, lost for so long that he had become a part of it. He could channel the power of this dimension. Josh felt the tug and soon found himself back in the world of the living.

"Not far," whispered Josh to himself as he barely stopped himself from hitting the concrete face-first. The tranquilizer was strong and Josh felt it try to drag him under. He wasn't going to go just yet.

XXXXX

Sooraya reached the mansion just in time to hear another explosion happen on the other side of the grounds.

"What was that?" asked Dust as she reformed, thanking Allah for the creation of unstable molecules. She had consented to one of her burqas being made from it to avoid the unpleasant experience of being nude upon her return to human form if she couldn't pour herself back into her clothes. She believed it was a necessary evil to avoid other evils.

"No clue," said Rockslide, "Wait, where've you been?"

"Stryker's men," explained Dust, "They have come for Jay."

"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition," said Rockslide with a grin. Dust gave him a bewildered look, the reference completely lost on her.

"Nevermind," said Rockslide, "The adults are getting on that explosion that happened over where those refugees are still camping out on our lawn."

"Then we must see to Jay," stated Dust. Rockslide nodded and turned to get help.

"The hell's going on now?" asked Hellion, "Geez, at least when I was in a coma I got some sleep."

"Jay," explained Rockslide, "Sooraya says those Jesus freaks are back."

"They're screwing around with the 198," added Mercury.

"Not our problem," assured Hellion as his eyes flashed with power and he moved towards the door, "Where to?"

"The cemetery," replied Dust as she and Mercury followed Hellion while Rockslide went to get the others.

XXXXX

The tracking equipment was having a hard time getting an accurate reading on the Guthrie boy's new powers but it could at least point them in the general direction. Matthew Risman counted this as a blessing. He wasn't sure just what kind of unholy power Josh had attained but he intended to find out just how the boy was alive again. They could study his powers later once they had captured him.

"I fear that Saul and Thomas are lost to us," said Matthew as the Purifiers combed the streets of Salem Center. Matthew figured the tranquilizer was doing its work on Josh if this short of a jump was all he could muster.

"We'll make the boy pay for his sins, Father," assured Samuel.

"Keep him alive," ordered Matthew, "I want to know more about him. I don't really care what condition he's in as long as he's alive." Matthew checked the tracking device. Before dying, Josh had been implanted with a tracking device in case they ever needed to keep tabs on him. While Josh's new powers were interrupting the device's signal, the Purifiers could still get a reading from it.

"Split up and start looking," ordered Matthew as he motioned to the maze of back alleys. The other three Purifiers nodded and quickly dispersed. Matthew waited until they were far enough ahead before drawing his gun and stepping into the alleys.

"Have you ever walked through the valley of the shadow of Death?" Matthew turned to follow the voice. There was nothing there.

"See, when most people talk about things like that, they really don't have a clue."

"I believe in the Lord God our Father," stated Matthew. His eyes flicked to see something coming at him from the darkness. The inky tentacle slammed into him and pinned him against a wall.

"Yeah, I did too once," admitted Josh as he stepped from the shadows and stared at the man, "It didn't stop my friends from being murdered. It didn't stop me from going to Hell."

"Hell is the only place for people like you," assured Matthew.

"We're not that different," admitted Josh, tightening the tentacle's grip around Matthew's throat, "You believe in God because your Reverend told you all about Him. Same with me and my parents. Neither of us had a desire to go out and find Him. We both just believed because we wanted some assurance, some peace of mind that we'd be protected from evil."

"You were once a child of God," said Matthew, "Now you're a tool of the Devil."

"Look who's talking," retorted Josh with a grin as he tossed Matthew to the ground, "You wear your scars on your face. I have mine on my soul. Aren't we both just as ugly?" He wanted to kill this man. Josh had enjoyed the feeling of what he had done to the other two Purifiers. This darkness could swallow a man's soul if given the chance. That kind of power was intoxicating. It was enough to simultaneously excite and disgust Josh Guthrie. Maybe the darkness had already swallowed _his_ soul. Maybe he was just an ugly monster like this man at his feet.

"I'm not afraid to die," assured Matthew.

"Then you're too stupid to understand," replied Josh. A swarm of tentacles came from his fingertips, each one grabbing Matthew Risman until his wrists and ankles were bound. Josh then simply directed the tentacles to pull and watched Matthew fight the urge to scream as the tendrils threatened to rip off his limbs. Josh stared into the man's eyes. He wasn't afraid to die? The idea was completely idiotic. Everyone was afraid to die. If they weren't then Josh could describe Hell for them and they'd soon learn. He felt the memories of it begin to form into concrete images. No more flashes. He could see the whole picture now and he could hear the agonizing screams of souls as they were ripped asunder. No one was fearless in the face of death. It was impossible.

"You're ready to die for God," said Josh as he looked into Matthew's eyes and saw no fear, "Why aren't you afraid like I was?"

"I have my faith," replied Matthew with a cruel grin, "I also know that God isn't ready for me to die just yet." Josh felt the sting of the needles as the darts hit him in the back. He thought the other Purifiers wouldn't be back in time to help their leader but he hadn't factored in his own hesitation at finishing the job. One of them slammed him in the back of the head with a rifle butt and took him to the ground. Josh felt himself slide into the cold oblivion of unconsciousness.

"Let him be," ordered Matthew as Samuel pointed his gun at the fallen boy and was about to pull the trigger again.

"He almost killed you," replied Samuel venomously.

"We are not above mercy," reminded Matthew with a grin, "Besides, by the time we're through with him he will wish he was still dead."


	4. Holy Smoke

Angel's Requiem (Part Four)

By TheLostMaximoff

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. R/R.

Paige Guthrie was not a happy camper. Some idiots were starting a riot outside while she was trying to sleep. That, however, wasn't her top priority. Her top priority was finding out where her brother had gone to since he had checked himself out of the medical wing.

"I'm going to kill him," muttered Paige as she headed into the main foyer and spotted Shadowcat, "Kitty, what's the deal?"

"I dunno," replied Kitty Pryde, "Someone's starting crap with the 198 again. Val Cooper's doing a horrible job providing 'extra security' for this place."

"Have you seen my brother?" asked Paige. There was another explosion that prevented Kitty from answering.

_'Paige, the children are in the cemetery.'_ Paige felt the familiar telepathic voice of her old teacher resonate in her head. She didn't know what was going on with the explosions but she knew the adults could handle that part. She had other things to worry about.

XXXXX

Julian Keller was not a happy camper. He wasn't one to make a big deal out of things so he refused to let his teammates know that his powers weren't exactly functioning at optimum efficiency. He had managed to get himself to the cemetery without blowing up anything. He could hear the rush of air behind him that meant Dust was hot on his heels in her sand form. Hellion could see that the bulk of the Purifiers were already gone but there were a couple stragglers he could have some fun with. After what they did to his friends, Hellion figured they had it coming.

"Where's Jay?" demanded Hellion as he tackled one of the Purifiers to the ground and began to beat the man senseless, "Tell me!" He wasn't going to kill the Purifier. He may have been a stubborn, arrogant bastard but Julian wasn't a murderer. Unfortunately, the Purifier wasn't exactly forthcoming with anything, let alone the information that Hellion wanted.

"Answer me!" snapped Julian as he hit the man again.

"It's no good, Julian," said Mercury as she gestured to the fact that the man in question was completely catatonic, "The other one's like that too."

"These two are the ones Jay used his powers on," said Dust, "I have felt the touch of that darkness. It appears they were not as fortunate as I."

"We need a name," said Hellion, "We need a place. We need something." He stared into the hollow, vacant eyes of the Purifier as the man continued to remain absolutely mute.

"We'll get it," assured Surge as she arrived with Rockslide and X-23 in tow, "X, can you get us a scent?" X-23 sniffed the air and grimaced.

"Jay's stops," explained Laura, "One of them is wearing very cheap cologne. I can track it."

"What about these two?" asked Rockslide, "Jay did this to them?" The two Purifiers had a look of absolute terror frozen on their faces.

"David said Darkforce could do this kind of stuff," explained Surge, "What were you two doing out here?"

"He had a confession to make," admitted Dust, "Stryker was the one who fired the missile that killed our friends but Jay . . . Jay was the one who told him about the target." There was dead silence from the New X-Men as they let this information sink in. None of them had known just how exactly Stryker knew about the bus when the adults were keeping it a secret from everyone outside the mansion. The kids had chalked it up to an information leak or maybe a crazy vision Stryker had received. None of them ever suspected that the information leak might've been one of their own.

"He couldn't have," said Mercury, "I mean there's no way he would've sold us out like that."

"He was manipulated," explained Dust, "He was unaware of . . ."

"Unaware my ass!" spat Hellion, "Look at this. Look at all this and tell me why we should save him." Julian gestured to the graveyard they were standing in and the two catatonic men who might as well have been as dead as everything else in the place. All of it had been caused by one man, the man that they had been trying to help and save. Why was he even alive again? What sort of cosmic justice did that endorse?

"Because it's the right thing to do," said Mercury suddenly, "Julian, I know how you feel about losing Brian. I lost him too. I know how you feel about Sofia leaving you because Kevin left me. I know you're angry about it because we all are. All of us wanna find the person responsible for this and beat the hell out of him but he's dead. Stryker is dead and it won't do us any good to sit here and take out our anger on Jay just because he made a bad choice. That's not what X-Men do. If we just let those goons do whatever they want to Jay then we're just as bad as they are. We're better than that, Julian, and you know it."

"Amen to that, sister," spoke up Paige as she stepped forward, "The adults are handling things back at the house. We're going to handle this. I don't know about you all but I'm going to find my brother." It didn't matter to Paige Guthrie what her brother had done. All of them had made mistakes. That was what people did. Maybe it was because Josh was family or maybe it was the way she had been raised but Paige Guthrie knew you couldn't give up on someone just because they made some mistakes.

"So are we," assured Surge, "You comin', Keller?" Julian had been slightly taken aback by what Mercury had said but he knew that she was right. He just wanted someone to blame for this whole mess because it was easy to pass the blame around instead of accepting the facts.

"You're the boss," assured Hellion with a nod to Surge, "We've got a friend that needs saving."

XXXXX

Josh could remember that meeting with Stryker in the church. The Reverend had spoken to him of Julia and had told him that he, Josh Guthrie, was an angel. Josh knew it was a lie now. He wasn't an angel any more than his sister's billionaire boyfriend was. Stryker had taken him to the place where his ministry was based. He had strapped Josh to a gurney while the Purifiers started pumping the tranquilizers into him. They were special tranquilizers designed to retard his healing factor. Stryker had told him that anything worth having was worth suffering for. Josh hoped Stryker was burning in Hell now. The coldness of the steel he was strapped to made him involuntarily shiver as he swam up from unconsciousness. As he broke the surface, Josh remembered that fateful morning he had come up from the waters of Jacobsen Pond with his true love in his arms. He could no longer say it was like coming up out of Hell because he had actually been to Hell. He remembered Julia's warning in his vision. Don't look back.

"I'm curious," said Matthew Risman as he looked down at Josh, "You screamed the first time we had you on this table. I wonder if you'll do it again." Josh strained against the clamps. He remembered this place very well. This was the place where they had ripped the wings from his back. His only joy in life was sacrificed for the promise of greater joy that never came. Julia was never coming back and after the things he had done maybe he deserved to be in Hell.

"I wouldn't count on it," replied Josh, "I'm surprised you haven't cut me open yet. Losing your faith?"

"I wanted you to be conscious," explained Matthew, "I wanted you to feel the pain." Josh almost laughed at this absurdity. Hadn't his whole life been about pain? Hadn't he endured more pain than what this man could produce? He was a walking corpse for God's sake. What greater pain could there be?

"I can tell you what pain is," assured Josh, "I've died twice, preacher. When I touched you with my darkness, I saw what haunts you. You left your wife and daughter to do 'the Lord's work' but really it's because you're disgusted with yourself. You want pain? Imagine your wife dying in your arms. Where's God going to be then?"

"I'd tell you to ask Him when you see Him," said Matthew with a cruel stare, "but we both know where you'll be going when you die."

"It's not me you should be worried about," assured Josh. Matthew motioned to the scientists that they should begin their work. Josh barely flinched as the needles pierced his skin.

XXXXX

"They were here." Surge looked at X-23 with a grim nod that told Laura to continue. X-23 sniffed the air again and quickly moved down the alleys, her pace coupling the grace of a panther with the frenzy of a hunting dog that's smelled its prey.

"They probably wouldn't have gone to the place they were before," said Paige, "These guys don't seem _that_ stupid."

"All kinds of 'stupid' in the world," assured Hellion, "Did they take Jay with them?"

"Yeah," replied X-23 simply as the New X-Men followed her lead through the alleyways. Everyone was on edge. They had faced these maniacs once but this time the element of surprise belonged to the group of teenage mutants. Last time, Stryker and the Purifiers had caught them sleeping. Now it was time to return the favor.

"There," said X-23 as she suddenly stopped in the alley and gestured to the condemned church across the street. The rest of the group almost crashed into one another at the abruptness of their halt.

"You sure?" asked Surge.

"I can smell them," assured X-23, "Jay, those men, chemicals, lots of bad things." Surge nodded and looked at Husk.

"I'm not an adult," reminded Paige, "I can't be more than five years older than you, Nori, and this ain't _my_ team. You call the shots; I just follow." Her statement was punctuated by the sickening sound of the Kentuckian peeling off her own flesh to reveal steel skin underneath. Everyone stared at her and although Husk was used to it by now it still made her uncomfortable.

"That's seriously gonna make me hurl," declared Rockslide.

"Can you even throw up anymore?" asked Hellion, "I mean wouldn't it just come out as chunks of rock?"

"I think _that_ might make _me_ throw up," said Paige as she finished husking into her new form, "I'm the one with the stronger stomach too."

"We're going to break up," ordered Surge, "Santo, Paige, and Julian are with me. We're going in the front while the others sneak around to the back. X, you can lead Cess and Sooraya to Jay and help get him out. The rest of us are going to wipe the floor with these losers."

"Damn straight we are," agreed Rockslide, "Game faces on, kids, 'cause it's clobberin' time."

"You sure Julian shouldn't go with us?" asked Mercury nervously, "We might need him for backup in case something happens."

"No," replied Surge, "Julian, I want the TK on full blast. We're going to make as much noise as we can so the girls can sneak in while everyone's looking at us."

"Can do, boss lady," assured Hellion. Mercury gave him a nervous look. She and Julian were close, much like a brother and a sister. She knew he was having problems with his powers but she also knew the worst thing she could do would be calling him out on it in front of the others. She just hoped nothing bad happened as a result of her keeping quiet.

"Go!" ordered Surge. X-23 broke off with Dust and Mercury. They doubled back through the alleys to get around to the back of the church. The sounds of battle could already be heard but that wasn't their priority.

"Two of them," said X-23 as she sniffed the air. Mercury nodded and turned herself into a puddle, slithering across the ground and moving behind one of the guards. She reformed behind him and hit him in the back of the head with the hand she had just turned into a mallet. The other Purifier turned to fire on Cessily but a cloud of dust suddenly enveloped him and he began choking and coughing. The Purifier didn't have time to raise his weapon before X-23 lunged through the dust cloud and stabbed him in the chest.

"Laura," warned Mercury with an admonishing glare.

"Fine," muttered X-23 as she resisted the urge to simply slit the man's throat with her other claws. She slid her claws out of the Purifier and used the claw on her foot to slice off the barrel of his weapon.

"I'll go first," said Mercury as she liquefied herself and slipped up under the door to get inside. She quickly reformed and looked around. She hadn't been to church in a long time. Knowing what was likely going on in here, the mere act of being in this building disgusted her. She quietly checked the hallway to make sure there were no hidden traps and then slowly crept along the hallway, looking for the place where they would have Josh.

"You bring war into this house," stated Matthew Risman as he stepped into the hallway from the sanctuary, "You seek to undo all that God has created here."

"We want our friend back," replied Mercury, "You and the rest of these people can preach all you want but the second you start hurting innocent people you become a disgrace to everything this place stands for."

"You are the disgrace," assured Matthew. There was no time for further debate as X-23 quickly turned the door into splinters and entered with Dust close behind.

"You took too long," said Laura as she sniffed the air before taking a run at Matthew. The preacher simply leered as Laura pounced towards him. Matthew sidestepped and quickly hit X-23 in the gut with something. It was soon apparent that it was some sort of baton that was electrified at one end. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air as X-23 rolled away after taking a lethal dose of electricity to her stomach. Her healing factor began stitching her up even as she got back to her feet.

"I had hoped you would come," admitted Matthew as Dust came at him, "Stryker believed you were dead. He saw it in a vision. You were the biggest threat to his work." Dust could not reply. The cloud her body had become surged forward at Matthew but the Purifier had seen this before. He had seen the skin peeled from the bones of his comrades by Dust's powers.

"The Lord has provided me with a weapon against you," assured Matthew as the other end of his staff suddenly began to glow red-hot. A blast of heat shot out of the staff at Dust. The heat reacted with the dust cloud, threatening to turn the sand into glass. Dust quickly backed off and returned to her human form.

"Great," muttered Mercury as X-23 took another shot at Matthew, "Some rescue this is going to be."

XXXXX

Husk decided that turning into steel probably wasn't the best move with all the electricity Surge was throwing around. She chalked it up to being the outsider. This team of kids worked well together. She could tell they had known each other long enough to gel into some sort of cohesive unit when it came time for a fight. She was glad her brother had friends like these.

"Less force next time," said Surge as Hellion's telekinetic wave sent the Purifiers scattering in all directions.

"You said 'full blast'," countered Hellion, "That was a lightweight pulse. These goons really aren't worth more effort than that."

"Anybody else get the feeling this is really easy?" asked Rockslide as he swatted aside the few Purifiers that were still on their feet. A laser blast clipped the side of his head. Surge was on top of it as she shocked the Purifier into submission with a blast of electricity.

"Nothin's ever easy," assured Husk as she hit one of the Purifiers with a right cross that floored the woman.

"What?" asked Rockslide as he realized the blast had clipped off his ear. He quickly ducked another blast to scoop the missing rock chunk up and reattach it. Santo turned and fired his left hand at the Purifier using the energy rifle. The chunk of rock knocked the man to the pavement as the contingent of teenage X-Men moved inside the church.

"I thought churches were supposed to be quiet," said Hellion as more lasers came their way. He moved to use Rockslide as a shield so he could have some cover while telekinetically disabling their weapons. The guns exploded with little finesse.

"I told you to ease up," reminded Surge.

"They have it coming," assured Hellion. He wasn't about to let everyone else know that his telekinesis wasn't exactly working like it should. The New X-Men suddenly halted their advance as a very large glob of liquid metal sailed through the air and splattered on the floor.

"Cess?" asked Surge as the puddle quickly reformed itself.

"Yeah, that didn't exactly go like we planned," said Mercury as she shook her head to clear out the cobwebs, "He's got a very large lightning rod and some more goons. X is handling him."

"You told her not to kill anybody, right?" asked Surge skeptically.

"Yeah but you know how Laura gets," said Mercury, "Sooraya went downstairs. Laura said she could smell the chemicals and stuff down there."

"Which means Jay's there," finished Surge, "You and Paige go down. I'll deal with the guy carrying the big stick."

"We can finish off the rest of these guys," assured Hellion.

XXXXX

"How much does he pay you?" James looked up from studying the readouts on the "samples" they had extracted from Josh. The boy's wounds had healed faster than expected so the process had become more torturous. Josh didn't really feel pain anymore, at least not in the physical sense.

"An adequate amount," assured James, "Our work is more about serving the Lord than material wealth."

"It's not enough for this," assured Josh. His hadn't been able to access his teleportation powers again because jumping once was strenuous enough. However, he felt that he could teleport again if he needed to.

"If you try to use any of your new powers, those restraints will shock you," stated James, "All it will take is an influx of whatever energy you use."

"I won't feel it," reminded Josh, "I'll heal from it too." The truth was that these idiots never had him at their mercy. Josh let them have their fun because he knew they weren't going to find any answers. People couldn't raise one another from the dead. No amount of science would bring someone back to life.

"Your healing factor has limits," said James, "I can guarantee that if you try to fight your way off that gurney you will die."

"I'm already dead," stated Josh as he flexed against the clamps. He felt his powers flow through his veins before the darkness began to engulf him. The electricity surged through his body but in a flash he had teleported himself out of his shackles and was now standing before the scientists. Josh felt his healing factor kick in and repair any damage he might've suffered from the electrical shock.

"I let you cut me open," explained Josh as the darkness reached out for James, "I wanted you to see that your work is completely pointless. It's not worth it. Don't you see that now?" James couldn't answer as the thick, tar-like substance engulfed his body and began to swallow him whole. He let out a scream as the darkness sucked out his soul. Josh could feel it. He could literally feel the life flow out of the Purifier and into him. When the darkness finally receded, James was dead.

"Bastard!" snarled Ruth as she suddenly came at him. The tendrils were quicker as they grabbed her and slammed her against a wall.

"I tried to tell him," said Josh as he then began the gruesome process of sucking out Ruth's soul as well, "I told him it wasn't worth it. You should've ran when you had the chance but instead you chose to throw your life away."

"I loved him," said Ruth hoarsely.

"What did that ever matter to people like you?" asked Josh coldly as he continued to suck the life straight out of the woman. It was then that he became enveloped in a cloud of dust that drove him away from the woman. The cloud reformed itself as Dust stood between Josh and the woman.

"Don't get involved in this, Sooraya," warned Josh.

"You have already murdered someone tonight," said Dust, "I will not let you do so again. This is not who you are, Jay."

"I'm nothing now," assured Josh coldly, "I'm broken, Sooraya. I'm just a shadow."

"You believe killing her will fix you?" countered Dust.

"I don't want to be fixed," stated Josh, "Now move aside and let me do what I have to."

"If you believe killing is the only thing that will satisfy you then kill me," ordered Dust defiantly, "Go ahead and see if it makes you feel better."

"No," said Josh, "You don't deserve it."

"It is not for you to decide who does," retorted Dust. They stared at one another intently. The tendrils of darkness writhed around their master but made no move to strike.

"You believe that nothing happens without the permission of God," said Josh, "If that's true then this really isn't going to be my fault." The tendrils suddenly attacked. Dust made no move to stop them from grabbing her. She could feel them sink into her soul. The cold was almost unbearable. However, there was something unexpected happening on the other end of the link. When Josh's tendrils did their work, he could see into a person's soul. Before, he had always seen anguish and sorrow. This . . . this was different. He saw a girl who _should_ be full of hate and anger but wasn't. He saw a girl who had enough compassion and mercy to forgive those that had forced her into slavery. He saw a girl full of more faith and hope than a scarred soul like his could ever have produced. He wasn't sucking out her soul. She was helping him try to regain his.

"Drop her," hissed a voice in his ear. Josh knew that voice too well. He felt hands of steel suddenly wrap around him. One of them twisted his arm behind his back while the other slipped him into a half-nelson.

"She wanted it," replied Josh as his tendrils released Dust, "She . . . was helping."

"If you've killed her then I swear I will 'help' you into an early grave," threatened Husk as Mercury moved past the Guthries to help Dust.

"Sorry, I'm out of jokes about already being dead," said Josh as he suddenly teleported. Paige felt the cold suddenly grip her and lock up her muscles. It was absolutely bone-chilling and it was all she could do to hang onto her younger brother as he took her on a ride through Hell.

"It's only going to get worse if you don't let go," assured Josh as he kept popping in and out of the Darkforce Dimension. Paige had only been teleported by Nightcrawler a few times and even then just one jump had made her slightly queasy. This was like riding a merry-go-round that was somehow in the middle of the Arctic and was stuck on hyper-drive.

"You're always so damn stubborn about everything," snapped Josh as he finally settled in the church again and felt his sister's limp arms wearily let him go.

"You gonna kill me now?" asked Husk as she sank to the floor and tried to keep herself from throwing up or freezing to death, "Bet that'll make Mom proud. Hell, that'll make Julia proud too."

"You don't know anything about her," stated Josh as one of his tendrils grabbed Paige and hoisted up her limp body, "You don't know anything about me. You and Sam think you do but you don't know a damn thing about me and you never wanted to. You were too busy running off to play hero to care about what the rest of us needed. How's that feel, sis? How's it feel to know that while you were out worrying about total strangers your little brother was the one who needed saving the most?"

"It sucks," admitted Husk weakly, "Don't you think I could see it, Josh? Don't you think I kept myself up at night going over all the times I wasn't there for you or the others? I can't be everywhere, Josh. I'm sorry I wasn't there before but I'm here now. Doesn't that mean anything?" He felt it again. The tendrils were trying to do their job but Husk was toxic to the touch. Josh recoiled as he felt the burning agony inside. There was only one thing worse than not having a soul. It was worse to have enough of a soul to see how much of a monster you had become.

"I can't stop it," said Josh, "I can't . . . I can't stop myself."

"This won't kill you," assured Mercury as a giant, metallic spike suddenly slammed through Josh's chest from behind, "Hopefully it'll hurt like hell though."

"Sorta," admitted Josh as he pushed himself backwards and let the spear sink in more. He stared down at the gaping wound in his chest. Thick, black tar oozed from the hole and Josh felt the foul liquid bubble up from his mouth as he gurgled. Was this his blood, this unclean and diseased slime? Was this truly what he was now?

"Something," gurgled Josh as Mercury slid the spike out of him and he dropped to the floor, "Something's coming." He could feel it in his mind. Something was coming. Wherever these powers came from, something was crossing over from there.

"What?" asked Husk.

"Take everyone," ordered Josh as his wound began to close up, "Get out. He's coming." His power was healing him but Josh felt it also healing his mind, ripping open the mental scars that had blocked the truth from him. The few remaining pieces of the puzzle were clicking into place at last.

"Cessily, get Sooraya and let's go," ordered Husk as she tried to help Josh. She turned and noticed that Mercury wasn't moving. The redhead was standing stock still and Paige had a suspicion that if the younger girl had real skin then her face would be white as a ghost.

"Cess!" snapped Husk.

"It's . . . it's moving," gasped Mercury in shock. Husk turned her attention to what Mercury was looking at. She watched the body of William Stryker suddenly come alive and punch its way out of the tank.

"It can't be," said Mercury in shock, "Elixir killed him."

"Welcome to the X-Men," retorted Husk as she took a run at the now very animated body. Stryker laughed maniacally as he raised his hand and swatted Paige aside as if she was made of cardboard instead of steel.

"I know you mortals enjoy a good show," said Stryker's body deviously as it began to change. The teeth became pointed. The facial features became more demonic. The body type transformed into something decidedly inhuman. Everyone stared with morbid fascination as Mephisto stood before them with an absolutely unholy grin splitting his face.

"I hope I have not disappointed," said Mephisto cruelly, "Now it would please me greatly if you would stand aside so I may retrieve what is rightfully mine."

"You?" asked Husk in disbelief as she looked to Josh.

"I think so," replied Josh grimly.


	5. Shout at the Devil

Angel's Requiem (Part Five)

By TheLostMaximoff

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. We're heading into the home stretch so keep the reviews coming.

The air crackled with electricity as Matthew Risman let another bolt of lightning fly from his staff to strike X-23. The jolt ran through Laura's body and launched her backwards into a wall. Matthew had read the files on her. Contrary to popular belief, X-23 wasn't invincible. Her healing factor needed time to work and time was something Matthew wasn't going to give her. Another arc of lightning shot from his staff and collided with X-23.

"You're the worst of them all," stated Matthew cruelly, "You're nothing but an animal, a monster."

"I am as people made me," replied X-23 as Matthew readied for another strike. That was when the lightning suddenly flowed out and over his head, arcing backwards as if drawn there by a more powerful force.

"Thanks," said Surge as the electricity coalesced in the palm of her hand, "I needed a recharge." That was all the time X-23 needed to launch herself at Matthew. A quick swipe of her claws was all it took to cut the staff into three pieces and leave it useless.

"God has granted me other boons," assured Matthew as he quickly drew his gun and fired at Surge. He knew what would happen. As predicted, X-23 quickly jumped in the way and took the bullets. Surge couldn't blast Matthew with Laura in the way, leaving the leader of the Purifiers time to make his escape.

"You alright?" asked Surge as she watched X-23's healing factor work the bullets out of her back.

"Fine," assured X-23 as she took a few breaths and then cracked her neck, "He's getting away."

"Santo and Julian are mopping up his goons," explained Surge, "Cess, Paige, and Sooraya are getting Jay. He doesn't really have anywhere to run to."

"Wounded animals are still dangerous," retorted X-23 as she caught Matthew's scent and ran after him. Surge was about to give chase but suddenly something came up through the floor. Nori quickly turned to realize that it was Husk.

"We've got a problem," said Husk simply as she picked herself back up.

"Damn," said Rockslide as he and Hellion made their way into the room and saw the carnage, "You sure showed that floor who's the boss."

"What happened?" asked Surge.

"Him," replied Husk as she pointed to where Mephisto was rising up through the hole in the floor with a hand around the throats of both Mercury and Dust.

"Right about now," said Rockslide, "I'm really thinking we should've stuck with Nimrod."

"Do you persist in this foolishness?" asked Mephisto as he calmly tossed Mercury and Dust in front of the other New X-Men.

"He wants Josh," explained Husk.

"He'll have to go through us then," assured Surge.

"Oh what fools these mortals be," said Mephisto with a roll of his eyes as the teenage mutants came at him. Lightning filled the air as Surge struck first. The bolts of electricity did little to faze the demon lord as Mephisto took them in stride. Husk and Rockslide struck in tandem with blows that would shatter the bones of normal beings. Paige went for the knees and stomach while Santo clubbed Mephisto over the head.

"You test my patience," stated Mephisto through gritted teeth as he simply took the blows and knocked both of his attackers aside. There were creaking noises as Hellion used his telekinesis to rip two pews out from the floor. He clapped them together with Mephisto sandwiched in between. Surge kept pouring on the lightning but nothing seemed to even slow Mephisto down.

"We can't even put a dent in him," said Hellion.

"Not fer lack o' tryin'," assured Husk as she hefted one of the pews Julian had ripped up and swung it at Mephisto. The chunk of wood splintered apart but managed to hurl Mephisto into a wall.

"Ashida," said Hellion, "You're the one with the genius boyfriend. What the hell is that thing?"

"No clue," replied Surge as Mephisto picked himself out of the wall. His eyes glowed with otherworldly fire as energy lanced from his hands. Hellion mustered a telekinetic shield that was promptly shattered by the blast.

"I have spoken to you in simple terms," said Mephisto, "Joshua Guthrie made a bargain with me. I see now that he believes he can shirk the debt he owes me and use his newfound boons for whatever childishness he pleases. I am retrieving what is already rightfully mine."

"My brother is not your slave," snarled Husk as she slammed Mephisto across the jaw. Mephisto took the punch and simply grinned as he caught Paige's hand and slowly began to crush it.

"Your brother was eager to strike a deal with me so that he might gain his revenge," said Mephisto, "I granted him access to what you mortals call 'the Darkforce Dimension' in return for the souls of those he planned to slay. To ensure that I receive my payment in full, I took his soul first. Now, I wonder exactly what bargain you'll offer me to get it back."

"I ain't interested in snake oil," assured Paige as Mephisto's grip forced her to her knees before him.

"Such a pity," said Mephisto as he slung Husk up into the balcony, almost succeeding in ripping her arm out of its socket.

"We really could've used that exorcist," said Rockslide as Mercury launched a round of razor-sharp metallic knives at Mephisto, "Cess, you sure you can't hook us up?"

"Not now," said Mercury with a glare. She didn't know what this new threat was but it was taking them apart like nothing. They were going to have to throw everything they could at it just to survive. It was either that or hand over what Mephisto wanted.

XXXXX

The pieces had come together. He had been an angry boy, angry and vengeful. Of course, there's nothing Satan loves more than an angry and vengeful child so Mephistopheles was very quick to bargain with Joshua Guthrie. The terms were simple. The demon would keep Josh's soul in exchange for granting Josh access to the power he needed to take his revenge. Josh had a plan though. The plan was to acquire a new lease on life, kill those who had killed him, and use their souls as leverage to regain his own. Unfortunately for Josh, part of him wasn't comfortable with this plan. It was that part of him that had led to the memory repression. It was that part of him that had brought him back to Xavier's. Therapists would call it a "cry for help", the last act of a desperate man to get someone to stop him from doing things he knew were wrong.

"You can run," said Josh as he saw Matthew Risman attempt to escape into the night to fight another day, "but you can't hide." He had to get enough souls to buy back what he had given Mephisto. If he didn't then he'd never be free from the demon.

"It's funny," said Josh as he appeared in front of Matthew, "You want to die for God but you run away from the chance. Satan's back in that church. Aren't you eager to face evil in the name of Christ?"

"God does not wish for His followers to run head-long into a battle they cannot win," stated Matthew as he pointed his gun at Josh.

"And here I thought that faith could move mountains if it was strong enough," replied Josh with a sad shake of his head, "Maybe I just wasn't listening correctly during Sunday morning service."

"You and your kind have brought the Devil upon us," said Matthew as he fired. Josh took three bullets in the chest before he moved forward and swatted the gun away.

"You may be ready to die for God," admitted Josh as he looked into Matthew's eyes, "but I'm not ready to die at all. I'd like to live again, preacher, but there's a price that has to be paid for my sins. I think you can fit the bill pretty nicely."

"Stop." Josh didn't even have enough time to move. The adamantium claw slit his throat in one smooth, vicious stroke. A normal man would've been dead in two seconds. A part of Josh wished that he could be so lucky.

"A moment," gurgled Josh as he simply snapped Matthew's arm like a twig. He turned to where X-23 was standing behind him.

"Not bad," admitted Josh as the gash across his throat healed, "I didn't figure you'd be the one standing here."

"Life is full of surprises," assured X-23 as she came at Josh. She spun her leg in a kick that ripped a chunk of flesh from his chest thanks to the claw on her foot. Laura jammed all four of her hand-claws into Josh's chest. Thick tar ran from the wounds and Josh simply smirked as his darkness came out of those wounds, grabbing X-23's hands and quickly working its way up her arms.

"I need my soul back," said Josh as he stared into Laura's eyes, "Don't you know what that feels like?" X-23 yanked as she tried to dislodge herself from the darkness that was engulfing her. She didn't mind the cold. Her body was a machine that virtually nothing could slow down. She was used to fighting through pain.

"Just let me kill him," begged Josh, "You would if you had the chance."

"We have to be better," retorted X-23 as she suddenly slammed her head into Josh's. The blow rattled Josh enough for X-23 to claw her way free and back up to breathe.

"You just want to impress Julian," sneered Josh, "You sing a pretty song, Laura, but that's all it is." X-23 came at him. He knew he couldn't beat her hand-to-hand so he didn't even try. X-23 swiped at dead air as Josh suddenly teleported behind her. He grabbed her with a tendril and promptly threw her into the side of a building with as much force as he could muster. The sickening sound of crunching bones echoed through the alley as the girl's body slammed into the concrete of the wall.

"She'll be fine in a few minutes," assured Josh as he turned to Matthew, "I doubt you're that lucky." Josh looked at this man as Matthew cowered before him. Where were his legions of fanatics now? Where was his arsenal of high-tech weaponry? Where was his faith?

"Please," said Matthew. Josh smiled cruelly as he kicked Matthew in the ribs. This man was begging for his life now? Matthew Risman wasn't going to get off that easy.

"You beg," said Josh with a look of pure hatred, "You beg for your life because you're afraid."

"I have a wife," pleaded Matthew, "I have a daughter."

"You _had_ them," snarled Josh as he kicked Matthew again, "I wasn't even given the chance at such things. I had someone who loved me too. She pleaded for my life as you plead for yours. People like you killed her."

"I didn't know," said Matthew.

"Now you do," hissed Josh as the darkness began to eat Matthew Risman alive.

"Your sister and the others," said X-23 as she slowly rose to her feet, "They fight for you."

"Tell them to go home, Laura," said Josh hoarsely as he stopped what he was doing and looked at X-23 mournfully, "Please just tell them to let me go."

"You have a family," stated X-23, "You have a family who will fight for you, die for you. Don't throw away what you should be grateful for having at all." Josh looked back at Matthew. Julia had warned him not to look back but that was all he could do. All he could do was look back to the moment when he had held her dead body in his arms and wished nothing more than to die as well. Maybe X-23 had been right. Maybe he had to be better than this.

"You should thank her," said Josh as he looked at Matthew coldly, "You should thank Julia too." With that, Josh disappeared in a flash of black while Matthew Risman sat in the dark and simply stared in wonder at what had occurred.

"You're welcome," said X-23 as she turned back towards the church, "I'd make the most of it."

XXXXX

The cloud of dust whipped around him with such speed and force that it would've flayed the flesh from a man's bones. Mephisto continued to toy with these children because their folly amused him. However, such amusement could only last for so long.

"I grow tired of games," stated Mephisto as his eyes and hands burned with fire that he discharged in a wide burst to stop Dust's useless attack. He surveyed the wreckage before him as the New X-Men struggled to rise again.

"I think we're screwed," said Surge grimly. Mephisto began a slow advance that was only halted by the sudden presence of Joshua Guthrie.

"Ah, finally," said Mephisto as he looked at Josh, "Have you come to accept your fate, young man?"

"I came to get what's mine," stated Josh, "I've already killed someone. Isn't that enough?"

"Yes, a fine soul indeed," admitted Mephisto as he ran his tongue across his lips, "However, yours is much too ripe to be returned for such pitiful repayment."

"I'm not killing anyone else," stated Josh firmly.

"You should've thought of that before bargaining with me," replied Mephisto cruelly, "You either offer me suitable compensation or you return with me to my realm until your debt is paid. Your choice matters little to me in the grand design of things."

"I'll go with you," said Josh through gritted teeth. As much as he didn't want to return to Hell, he couldn't see any other option. His friends would only kill themselves if they continued to fight Mephisto and he couldn't offer up enough to bargain with unless he took it in blood.

"No," said Dust suddenly, "If you need another soul to help replace his . . . then you shall have mine." Josh gave Sooraya an angry look as she stepped up to face Mephisto.

"Such an innocent and beautiful soul indeed," said Mephisto as he gave Dust a stare that burned into the core of her very being.

"I won't let you do this," stated Josh firmly, "I did all this to myself. None of it was your fault."

"I must help those who are in need," replied Dust, "My own condition is inconsequential. As long as you are safe and whole again, I will endure."

"It's not your responsibility," stated Husk as she wearily rose to her feet, "You want a pure soul? Take mine and get it over with."

"It seems we have so many willing to bargain to save Mr. Guthrie's soul," said Mephisto, "Do I have any other offers?"

"You don't need any," assured Paige, "Take my soul to fulfill the deal with my brother then leave him and his friends alone forever."

"You're insane," said Josh, "Paige, just give up. You're not responsible for . . ."

"I love you!" snapped Husk, "You're my brother and I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe. I'm not doing this because I feel guilty. I'm doing this because I love you."

"Both offers are equally enticing," admitted Mephisto, "What shall it be, Joshua? What price would you pay to attain your own soul? Shall it be your sister or your dear, close 'friend'?"

"Neither," said Josh, "I'll go back with you and you'll spare them both."

"Over my dead body," retorted Husk as the Guthrie siblings glared at one another. Neither of them were going to budge on this matter. Unless all parties involved were willing to reach an agreement, nobody was going to do anything.

"I think I can settle this." Everyone turned to see Matthew Risman move towards Mephisto. The demon grinned as he saw Matthew approach him. He was well acquainted with Reverend William Stryker. Indeed, Mephisto had planned on making Stryker an offer should he have survived the ordeal with Nimrod. Desperate times could drive men to such maddening lengths. It was a fact about the human race that Mephisto utterly relished.

"What do you propose?" asked Mephisto with an evil smile.

"You will give him his soul," stated Matthew, "and in return you may have mine in its place."

"Interesting," mused Mephisto, "Normally, I would laugh at your jest of an offer. Currently, your soul is hardly worth Mr. Guthrie's. Yet you willingly offer it to save that which you scorn and loathe. Such an act does cast your soul in a more appealing light."

"You don't know what he'll do," said Josh, "He'll either turn you into a monster or he'll torture you for the rest of eternity." Matthew let a sad smile grace his twisted face.

"He can't do anything to me I haven't already done to myself," assured the leader of the Purifiers, "I have my own sins to pay for and this is how I intend to do it." Josh and Matthew looked at one another, perhaps for the first time seeing each other as men instead of monsters. It was so easy for a man to become a monster. Both of them had seen it enough.

"You don't have to do this," said Josh.

"I've done enough wrong," replied Matthew, "I've killed innocent children in the name of God. I've hurt you and your kind more than humanly possible. I'm the monster here."

"You could change," reminded Josh.

"I think you'll do a better job of that," assured Matthew, "I intend to give you the chance to be better than what I've been. Whether or not you take it is up to you."

"I believe we have reached a suitable agreement," stated Mephisto.

"First give him his soul," ordered Matthew. Mephisto waved his hand dismissively. Josh could feel it now. The dull and throbbing ache was gone. There was no more hollowness inside him. It felt as if he had suddenly been filled up with something so precious that he couldn't begin to describe it.

"Tell my wife and daughter," said Matthew, "Tell them . . . that I had to do the Lord's work." The light in his eyes suddenly faded into a dead hollowness. Like a puppet with cut strings, Matthew Risman's dead body crumpled to the floor. Mephisto gave Josh a very satisfied smile as Josh felt the darkness well up in his hands. Having a soul didn't change what he had done to himself. If anything, it made the burdens even harder to bear.

"Our bargain is finished, Joshua," stated Mephisto, "I suspect you shall find your new condition more burden than boon. Could I interest you in a bargain to save Mr. Risman's soul?"

"Get behind me, Satan," retorted Josh, "Thou art a stumbling block to my path."

"Very cute," replied Mephisto with a grin, "I've heard that one before, boy. I was never very amused by it." With that, Mephisto vanished in a swirl of red smoke. The New X-Men suddenly looked around to find the church completely unharmed. It was as if the battle had never taken place at all.

"So," said Rockslide as he broke the uneasy silence, "Is it just me or did we totally just kick Satan's ass?"


	6. What I've Done

Angel's Requiem (Epilogue)

By TheLostMaximoff

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. This is the end, kids, so R/R.

He stood before the house and sighed deeply, wishing that there was some other way of doing this. At times like this, Josh Guthrie really hated having a soul. However, he had promised Matthew Risman he would do this and, after all the man had done for him, Josh figured it was time to start returning the favor. He quietly walked up to the door and rang the bell. It had taken some time with the school's computers and a few minutes with Emma Frost before he had located Piper Risman. Once he had an address though, Josh had wasted no time in arriving here. It was best to get this over with quickly.

"Hi," said a voice. Josh looked down at the girl that had answered the door. He could tell she was Matthew's daughter. He had hoped she would be in bed at this hour.

"Hi," replied Josh as he knelt down so he was eye-level with Grace, "I need to talk to your mother about something very important. Is she around?"

"Mom," said Grace as she turned back inside the house. Josh smiled a little as he stepped into the house. He watched as a woman made her way to the front door.

"Mrs. Risman?" asked Josh, "Piper?"

"I don't use that last name anymore," replied Piper, "Who are you and what do you want?"

"It's about your husband," explained Josh quietly, "Can we talk in private?" Piper nodded and motioned for Josh to follow her into the kitchen. Josh obliged and followed the woman into the room, taking a seat at the table while she closed the door.

"He's dead, isn't he?" asked Piper as she turned to face Josh.

"Yeah," replied Josh with a solemn nod, "I don't know how much you know about his work."

"He used to kill people for just money," said Piper with slight disgust, "I think I liked it better than I liked him killing people for Jesus. I've known this day was going to come. The Matthew I fell in love with was already dead."

"He saved my life," said Josh matter-of-factly, "He hated me because I was a mutant and I hated him for hating me. In the end, he took a bullet for me. He gave his life for me."

"That kinda sounds like Matt," admitted Piper as she sat down next to Josh, "That sounds like the Matt I knew before he got on this kick about God and getting right with Jesus."

"He told me to tell you he had to do the Lord's work," explained Josh quietly, "I think he finally understood it all in the end."

"Is there something I should do?" asked Piper, "Do I need to identify a body or something?"

"Teach your daughter to love people instead of hate them," replied Josh as he got up to leave, "I don't know if there is a God but if there is then that's what He'd want us to do. At the very least, it's what your husband would've wanted." Josh continued walking and stepped out of the house. He had a few other things to do before he faded away into the night to find his own path.

"Will you be back?" asked Piper.

"I'll be around," assured Josh without turning to look at her. With that, he simply vanished into the night like a ghost.

XXXXX

"You know you don't have to do that, right?" Sooraya Qadir finished her prayer and turned from Josh's grave to face the man himself.

"It is a healthy habit," assured Dust with a smile, "I would not wish you to be forgotten."

"Something tells me I won't be," said Josh as he came up next to her and stared at the headstone. It was somewhat creepy to stare at your own grave.

"Orpheus," said Josh, his voice so low that it was almost a whisper.

"Hm?" asked Dust as she looked at him quizzically.

"I told you before that I needed a new name," reminded Josh, "I think I'm going to call myself 'Orpheus'."

"I am unfamiliar with the name," admitted Dust.

"Orpheus was a character in Greek mythology," explained Josh, "He journeyed to the realm of Hades to retrieve his wife. Hades promised to let them both go but the catch was that he had to walk in front of her and never look back to make sure she was behind him. Orpheus couldn't resist doing so and she vanished from his sight forever when he looked back."

"I take it you no longer wish to look back?" asked Dust.

"I was told not to," replied Josh, "I think it's finally time I looked forward. Plus, the Greeks believed that Orpheus was a great poet and musician."

"Very fitting then," said Dust with a nod, "Will you be staying with us, Jay?" They both knew the question was coming sooner or later. He knew she wanted him to stay and he hated to break her heart.

"I can't," admitted Josh, "These new powers will take time to control and I'd like to do that alone. It's part of looking forward. I can't stay here and be reminded of what's happened, of what I've done."

"Will I see you again?" asked Dust hopefully.

"God willing, yes," replied Josh with a smile as he reached up to touch the veil covering Sooraya's face. Dust's hand instinctively moved to stop him from removing the veil.

"I can't," explained Dust.

"I know," replied Josh, "It's just that I'd rather not kiss you through cloth."

"Oh," said Dust as Josh's hand retreated. She felt the sweat on her palms as she slowly removed the veil and shook her head to get her hair to flow out before looking at Josh again.

"You have beautiful eyes," whispered Josh as he cupped her chin and then brought her into a deep, passionate kiss that left her cold and warm at the same time.

"You are the only one who could help me heal," whispered Josh as their lips parted, "I will find my way back to you."

"I'll be waiting," assured Dust as Josh turned and began walking away. He knew in some way he was in love with this girl, this mysterious rose of the desert. It didn't matter. He had to find himself and then once he had done so perhaps he would be the type of person who deserved someone like Sooraya.

"Mama always said you were a heartbreaker." Josh turned to look at his older sister as she leaned against a tree. He smiled and shook his head, staring at her as if this was truly the first time he had seen her in a very long time.

"Leaving too?" asked Josh.

"Eventually," assured Paige, "Warren might want to stick around longer. I think he likes seeing Scott and the others. I don't really know where I'll go."

"I'm sure Sam's team could use a hand," said Josh.

"He can take care of himself," assured Paige with a shake of her head, "You're enough of a handful."

"I bet," said Josh as he closed the distance between them and hugged her, "Thanks, sis."

"Nothing I wouldn't do for any of my siblings," assured Paige, "Besides, you're my favorite brother anyway."

"Take care of yourself," said Josh, "Keep an eye on these kids when you can."

"I'll try," promised Paige as the two siblings separated. Josh waved goodbye as he turned and walked silently into the woods before simply disappearing. Paige stood staring at where he had been. She swore she could hear music coming from somewhere. The tune was new but she could tell the voice was still Josh's. It no longer sounded hollow and mournful. It was the song of a man who had been damaged but was walking down the road to recovery. Paige closed her eyes and listened to the music until little by little it faded away into the night.


End file.
